This application claims the priority of 198 36 853.4, filed Aug. 14, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a roof arrangement for a roof aperture of a motor vehicle, having at least one roof section which is mounted in a guide to move in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
DE 44 15 649 C1 discloses a slatted roof for a car which possesses a plurality of slatted roof sections mounted via a push-out and guide mechanism in a roof aperture of the car and displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A supporting slide arranged in a guide rail is assigned to each slatted roof section. Each supporting slide has a locking member which can be actuated by an adjacent slatted roof section. The locking member engages into a recess on the guide rail side when the corresponding support slide has reached a particular position.
DE-C 917 594 discloses a telescopic canopy top for a motor vehicle having a plurality of roof hoops which are displaceable in a guide in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The foremost part of the hoops, in the direction of travel, can be locked by a latch device in the closed position of the canopy roof on the vehicle body.
The object of the present invention is to provide a roof arrangement of the type referred to initially in which at least one roof section is secured in every position against escaping from the guide in the event of a vehicle collision.
This and other objects are achieved by at least one roof section being assigned a fixing device which secures the roof section by positive and/or non-positive fitting relative to the guide in the event of a vehicle deceleration caused by a collision. The fixing device individually provided for each of the at least one roof section, brakes and/or blocks, in each position of the roof section, automatically with rapid reaction, an undesireable movement of the roof section in the guide. To this end, the fixing device is so designed so that, in the event of a vehicle deceleration in excess of a predetermined threshold value, it prevents or at least slows movement of the roof section relative to the guide.
Preferably, the fixing device is arranged on a support slide which is movable in the guide and supports the roof section. Normal opening or closing movements of the roof arrangement are not prevented by the fixing device. The guide is, furthermore, of such strong design that, if the fixing device engages upon it, it is not sufficiently deformed for the roof sections to be able to escape from the guide.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the fixing device has a securing member which is mounted to move relative to the roof section and, in the event of a vehicle deceleration caused by a collision, is deflected out of its position of rest and engages on the guide. The securing member may be designed as a friction or latching member. In the event of a sharp deceleration of the vehicle as a result of a collision, the securing member is moved from a rest position, in which movement of the roof section is permitted, into an operating position in which movement of the roof section is prevented.
According to a further advantageous feature and preferred embodiments of the invention, the securing member is mounted so as to move by pivoting about a bolt oriented in the transverse direction of the vehicle. The securing member moves from the rest position into the operating position by pivoting about the bolt.
According to a further advantageous feature and preferred embodiments of the invention, the securing member is designed as a friction member which, on the guide side, is assigned a friction surface extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. In the operating position, the friction member slides or adheres, irrespective of the position of the roof section, on the friction surface extending parallel to the guide, as a result of which movement of the roof section is braked or prevented.
According to a further advantageous feature and preferred embodiments of the invention, the securing member is designed as a latching member which, on the side of the guide, is assigned a recess for engagement by positive fitting. The recess is designed so that it provides the latching member with a stop surface acting in the direction of travel of the motor vehicle. The latching member engages, in its operating position, into the recess and so blocks the movement of the roof section in the direction of travel by positive fitting.
According to a further advantageous feature and preferred embodiments of the invention, the fixing apparatus possesses an inertia member which is mounted to move relative to the roof section and, in the event of a vehicle deceleration caused by a collision, is deflected by its own mass inertia forces out of its position of rest. The inertia member moves, as a result of the deflection, into an operating position in which it either triggers an activation of the securing member or itself actuates the securing member.
According to a further advantageous feature and preferred embodiments of the invention the fixing device possesses a lever mounted to move by pivoting on a bolt oriented in the transverse direction of the vehicle, on which lever the inertia element is arranged at a distance from the bolt in the vertical direction of the vehicle. The inertia member can be designed separately from or integrally with the lever. As a result of the proposed arrangement, inertia forces acting on the inertia member cause a torque relative to the bolt, which is passed into the lever. The part of the lever bridging the space between the bolt and the inertia member here represents the relevant lever arm, and the inertia member may be arranged above or below the bolt.
Further advantages and features of the invention are apparent from the claims and from the description which follows, in which a preferred example of embodiment of the invention is shown with reference to a drawing.